Microsoft Office vs iWorks,

Microsoft Office vs iWorks, can I open documents and do everything I can do in Ms using iWorks?

I am currently using a 2003 MS office and I cannot open some of the docs created with 2008 office. It adds on a "x" to some docs and I cant open those.

How are they the same?

How are they different?

I work for an organization that uses MS office. Was wondering if iWorks would allow me to open and use all the docs created in the new 2008 or whatever it is office. I work between the work environment and home. All peecees at work, all mac at home.

Comments

Microsoft Office vs iWorks, can I open documents and do everything I can do in Ms using iWorks?

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Office 2011 is a suite of four huge bloated applications that is intended to do your thinking for you. iWork is a suite of three relatively svelte applications that allow you to think for yourself. Without knowing what you can do, there is no way to know if you can do everything in iWork that you can do in Office. Certainly, Office has many more features and functions than iWork. That is the definition of bloat.

Office 2011 is a suite of four huge bloated applications that is intended to do your thinking for you. iWork is a suite of three relatively svelte application that allow you to think for yourself. Without knowing what you can do, there is no way to know if you can do everything in iWork that you can do in Office. Certainly, Office has many more features and functions than iWork. That is the definition of bloat.

Well...

Office 2011 is bloated, but the Word app, at least, is completely brilliant.

Pages treats you like you're a bit of a moron, IMNSHO, and the new Word is like a big fat genius that's your best friend if you know how to tell it to shut up.

I think most people actually find iWork to be easier to use, but if you're already accustomed to Office, then iWork is going to require a learning curve. Most of the complaints I hear about Pages in particular is that it doesn't operate like Word. Now some find this to be the entire point, but again, the transition will take time. The template and style handling features in Pages are awesome, but again, only once you learn them. All I can say is, if you decide to give iWork a try, don't be one of those people who spends five minutes with it and decides that the whole thing stinks because it looks so unfamiliar.

I want to know if iWorks will convert or allow me to open and work on WORD and spreadsheet documents created in the new WORD and spreadsheet applications on windows.. My current Office 2003 mac MS office does some but not all. I figure its just too old.

SO do I get MS Office 2008 for mac or whatever the new one is or iWorks.

Yes I know. But it will not open some documents created using word on windows

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One of my Windows-using colleagues asked me for help with an Office 2003 .doc document. Her installation of Office 2007 would not open it. She emailed the document to me. I used Office 2008 to convert it to a .docx file and then emailed the .docx file to her. My colleague thinks I am God.

The prospect of Windows/Mac parity in Office sounds more like a threat than a promise.